Hansard Society

The role of social media in politics has increased considerably. A particular challenge is how to deal with the deluge of information generated on social media: it is impractical to read lots of messages with the hope of finding useful information. In this chapter, the authors suggest an alternative approach: utilizing analysis software to extract the most relevant information of the discussions taking place. This chapter discusses the WeGov Toolbox as one concept for policy-makers to deal with the information overload on Social Media, and how it may be applied. Two complementary, in depth case studies were carried out to validate the usefulness of the analysis results of the WeGov Toolbox components' within its target audience's everyday life. Firstly, the authors used the “HeadsUp” forum, operated by the Hansard Society. Here, they were able to compare the key themes and opinions extracted automatically by the Toolbox to a control group of manually pre-analyzed data sets. In parallel, results of analyses based on four weeks' intensive monitoring on policy area-specific Facebook pages selected by German policy makers, as well as topics on Twitter globally and local, were assessed by taking into account their existing experience with content discussed and user behavior in their respective public spheres. The cases show that there are interesting applications for policy-makers to use the Toolbox in combination with online forums (blogs) and social networks, if behavioral user patterns will be considered and the framework will be refined.

The 2010 general election result was so finely balanced that only a combination of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats together could command a workable majority in the House of Commons. However, this combination meant that the Liberal Democrats had to abandon their centre-left positioning and, accepting the arithmetic conclusion of the election, help form a centre-right administration. This article explores how each of the main parties, in the days immediately following the election, worked through the potential political outcomes, and how they viewed the conflicts they posed between ideological traditions and instincts, personal relationships and party interests. It assesses the ideological, strategic and organisational aspects of the coalition and makes an interim assessment of the impact the arrangement may have on the British political landscape.

This article discusses the origins of the Efficiency Unit's ‘Next Steps’ Report, published 20 years ago which recommended the executive agency as an organisation for much of the British government. Within five years more than half the civil service had been transferred to work in agencies but the other major recommendation of the report – improving the management skills of the senior civil service received far less enthusiastic attention. From the Fulton Report, the Next Steps report to the Capability Reviews of current Whitehall the same problem is highlighted: there is still too little management competence within the public service despite the endorsement of the need for improvement by successive governments.

Journal Article Electoral Reform Get access David Butler David Butler Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, and is a former Chairman of the Hansard Society Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 57, Issue 4, October 2004, Pages 734–743, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsh057 Published: 01 October 2004

Journal Article The Televised Leaders' Debate in Britain: From Talking Heads to Headless Chickens Get access STEPHEN COLEMAN STEPHEN COLEMAN *Director of the Hansard Scholars Programme, Hansard Society for Parliamentary GovernmentLondon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 51, Issue 2, April 1998, Pages 182–197, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a028783 Published: 01 April 1998

THE MAGIC OF LABOUR Get access Geoffrey Wood Geoffrey Wood ††Director of the International Programme, Hansard Society for Parliamentary GovernmentLondon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 51, Issue 2, April 1998, Pages 290–292, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a028794 Published: 01 April 1998

Journal Article Reviews Get access Irina H. Corten, Vocabulary of Soviet Society and Culture…1953–1991 ( 1992, London: Adamantine Press, pp. 176) Stephen Coleman Stephen Coleman Director of Studies The Hansard SocietyLondon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Journal of Lexicography, Volume 9, Issue 4, December 1996, Pages 364–366, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/9.4.364 Published: 01 December 1996

The Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill 1994—A Blueprint for Reform of the Legislative Process? Get access MICHAEL RYLE MICHAEL RYLE * Former Clerk of Committees, House of Commons, and Member and Secretary of the Hansard Society Commission on the Legislative Process. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Statute Law Review, Volume 15, Issue 3, 1994, Pages 170–181, https://doi.org/10.1093/slr/15.3.170 Published: 01 December 1994

Journal Article UNIVERSITY REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT—II Get access THOMAS LLOYD HUMBERSTONE THOMAS LLOYD HUMBERSTONE This is the second of three instalments forming an abridgement of a book which the Hansard Society hopes to publish when circumstances permit. The concluding instalment will be published in a later issue Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume I, Issue 2, Spring 1948, Pages 78–93, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a052961 Published: 01 March 1948